United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2004-06-02 monographic deposited born digital 45 p. GA 1.13:GAO-04-706 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-706 P0b002ee18038474b f:d04706 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-706 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-706 GAO-04-706 Computer equipment management Computer security Computer software Federal agencies Hackers Information technology Other Written Product A10349

Flaws in software code can introduce vulnerabilities that may be exploited to cause significant damage to federal information systems. Such risks continue to grow with the increasing speed, sophistication, and volume of reported attacks, as well as the decreasing period of the time from vulnerability announcement to attempted exploits. The process of applying software patches to fix flaws, referred to as patch management, is a critical process to help secure systems from attacks. The Chairmen of the House Committee on Government Reform and its Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census requested that GAO assess the (1) reported status of 24 selected agencies in performing effective patch management practices, (2) patch management tools and services available to federal agencies, (3) challenges to performing patch management, and (4) additional steps that can be taken to mitigate the risks created by software vulnerabilities. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-706/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-706.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-706/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-706.pdf GAO-04-706 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-706 Other Written Product GAO-04-706; Information Security: Continued Action Needed to Improve Software Patch Management; Computer equipment management Computer security Computer software Federal agencies Hackers Information technology Title 331 Section 901 331 U.S.C. 901 Public Law 106-398 Public Law 107-296 Public Law 107-347